Spectrum Test: Sources for History of Modern India - UPSC MCQ

• The historians of this school, relying completely on the colonial historiography of medieval India and colonial era textbooks, viewed Hindus and Muslims as permanent hostile groups whose interests were mutually different and antagonistic to each other. 

• This view was not only reflected in the writings of the historians but it also found a more virulent form in the hands of the communal political leaders. In their view, India’s medieval history was one long story of Hindu-Muslim conflict. 

• As a corollary of this view, it was then argued that the 19th- and 20th-century Muslims had the ‘happy’ and ‘proud’ ever present memory of having been the ruling class, while Hindus had the ‘sad’ and ‘humiliating’ memory of having been the subject race. This, ultimately, developed mutual hatred among these groups often resulting in communal riots and, in the end led to the partition of India.

- Pair 1: National Archives of India - Located in Mumbai - This pair is incorrectly matched. The National Archives of India are located in New Delhi, not Mumbai.

- Pair 2: James Rennell - First Surveyor-General of Bengal - This pair is correctly matched. James Rennell was indeed appointed as the first Surveyor-General of Bengal in 1767.

- Pair 3: Records of the Madras Presidency - Begin from AD 1670 - This pair is correctly matched. The records of the Madras Presidency indeed begin from AD 1670.

- Pair 4: Archives of State Governments - Include records of the erstwhile princely states - This pair is correctly matched. The state archives do include the records of the erstwhile princely states which were incorporated into the Indian Union after 1947.

Thus, pairs 2, 3, and 4 are correctly matched, while pair 1 is incorrectly matched.

• The nationalist approach to Indian history can be described as one which tended to contribute to the growth of nationalist feelings and to unify people in the face of religious, caste, or linguistic differences or class differentiation. 

• This approach looks at the national movement as a movement of the Indian people, which grew out of the growing awareness among all people of the exploitative nature of colonial rule. 

• This approach developed as a response to and in confrontation with the colonial approach. It should be noted that the nationalist historians of modern India didn’t exist before 1947. Before 1947, nationalist historiography mainly dealt with the ancient and medieval periods of Indian history. 

• Although, in the last quarter of the 19th century, a detailed and scientific critique of colonialism for the adverse economic aspects of alien rule was developed by nationalists like Dadabhai Naoroji, M.G. Ranade, G.V. Joshi, R.C.

Dutt, K.T. Telang, G.K. Gokhale, and D.E. Wacha. The only accounts of the national movement was by nationalist leaders (not historians) such as R.G.

Pradhan, A.C. Mazumdar, J.L. Nehru and Pattabhi Sitaramayya. R.C. Majumdar and Tara Chand are noted nationalist historians of modern India.

Statement 1 is correct. The National Archives of India, located in New Delhi, indeed contains most of the archives of the Government of India.

Statement 2 is correct. The records in the National Archives are organized into various groups, representing different branches of the secretariat at different stages of its development, such as public or general, revenue, political, military, secret, commercial, judicial, and education.

Statement 3 is incorrect. The records of the Madras Presidency begin from AD 1670, not AD 1600, and include records of the Governor and Council of Fort St. George.

Thus, the correct answer is Option B: 1 and 2 Only.

• The shift in terms of the writing of women’s history began with the women’s movement of the 1970s which provided the context and impetus for the emergence of women’s studies in India. Very soon, women’s history broadened and assumed the more complex shape of gender history. In the early years, the endeavour was to write a history of women to supplement the writings of mainstream history.

• Also, an attempt was made to research and compile an archive of women’s writing. An important area of research has been analysis of the way in which colonial structures, such as the legal structure, affected women’s lives. 

• Women’s vulnerability due to the denial of ownership of productive resources has been focused on, in the analysis of how progressive laws shaped gender relations. In the colonial period, two works based upon the women’s question in India—The High Caste Hindu Woman (1887) by Pandita Ramabai, and Mother India (1927) by Katherine Mayo—attracted international attention.

1. James Augustus Hickey - The Bengal Gazette: Correct
James Augustus Hickey published the first newspaper in India, The Bengal Gazette, in 1780.

2. G. Subramaniya Iyer - Kesari: Incorrect
G. Subramaniya Iyer was the editor of The Hindu and Swadesamitran, not Kesari. Kesari was edited by Bal Gangadhar Tilak.

3. Bal Gangadhar Tilak - Mahratta: Correct
Bal Gangadhar Tilak was indeed the editor of Mahratta, along with Kesari.

4. Surendranath Banerjea - Bengalee: Correct
Surendranath Banerjea was the editor of the newspaper Bengalee.

Thus, pairs 1, 3, and 4 are correctly matched.

Answer: Option C

Statement-I: "The records of the East India Company provide a detailed account of trading conditions during the period 1600-1857."

• This statement is correct. The records of the East India Company do indeed provide detailed information about trading conditions during that period.

Statement-II: "The National Archives of India contains most of the archives of the Government of India."

• This statement is also correct. The National Archives of India houses a large collection of government records.

However, Statement-II does not explain Statement-I. The fact that the National Archives of India contains most of the archives of the Government of India does not explain how the East India Company records provide a detailed account of trading conditions during 1600-1857.

Therefore, the correct option is: 

   3. Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct, but Statement-II does not explain Statement-I

Let's analyze the two statements:

Statement-I:

"The Dutch records of Cochin and Malabar are in the Madras Record Office, and those of Chinsura are in the state archives of West Bengal."

• This statement is correct. The Dutch established a strong presence in Cochin and Malabar, and their records from this period are indeed housed in the Madras Record Office. The records of Chinsura, another Dutch settlement, are maintained in the state archives of West Bengal.

Statement-II:

"The remaining Danish records, mainly relating to Tranquebar (1777-1845), are now housed in the Madras Record Office."

• This statement is also correct. The Danish presence in India, particularly in Tranquebar (a former Danish colony), resulted in the creation of various records. These records are housed in the Madras Record Office.

Conclusion:

• Both statements are correct, but Statement-II does not explain Statement-I. The two statements are about different colonial powers (Dutch and Danish), and while both are true, they are not directly related in an explanatory sense.

Thus, the correct answer is:

Option 3: Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct, but Statement-II does not explain Statement-I.

1. Correct: The Bengal Gazette, also known as the Calcutta General Advertiser, was indeed the first newspaper in India, published by James Augustus Hickey in 1780.

2. Incorrect: The Calcutta Gazette was published in 1784, while The Madras Courier was published in 1788. Therefore, The Madras Courier was published after The Calcutta Gazette.

3. Incorrect: The Hindu and Swadesamitran were edited by G. Subramaniya Iyer, not Bal Gangadhar Tilak. Bal Gangadhar Tilak was associated with the newspapers Kesari and Mahratta.

Thus, only statement 1 is correct.